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Archive for the Youth Department category

New Podcast Coming 3/22

Posted on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 7:32 PM by Jason Barker

My new podcast, re/CALL (Responding to God's Call in Your Life), will launch on March 22nd. re/CALL is a podcast for Orthodox Christian teens and young adults that focuses on how your relationship with God and His Church can permeate every aspect of your life: dealing with family, friends, school, work, your spiritual life, and everything in-between!

To learn more, visit the re/CALL website at www.orthodoxyouth.org/recall.

The program is a partnership between the Department of Youth Ministry and Ancient Faith Radio.

Posted in Ancient Faith, re/CALL, Youth Department

Orthodox Teen Talk Online

Posted on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 1:31 PM by Jason Barker

The Orthodox Christian Network, with partners including members of Teen SOYO, is launching a new audio program called Orthodox Teen Talk Online, or OTTO. The program will involve Orthodox teens - guided by Fr. Christopher Metropulos and Emmy Louvaris - discussing issues involving contemporary teen life.

An MP3 of the first episode is available here.

Posted in OCN, Orthodox News, Youth Department

Sacred Gift of Life and Share the Light Sunday

Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 8:32 AM by Jason Barker

This Sunday - January 20, 2008 - is the date for two important events.

That is the date for the annual Sacred Gift of Life Sunday, in which members of Teen SOYO lead members of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America in protecting the unborn. You can find resources here.

January 20th is also the date for the annual Share the Light Sunday to support the work of the Orthodox Christian Network. You can find resources here.

Posted in OCN, Orthodox News, Youth Department

The Study of 1 Corinthians Has Launched

Posted on Thursday, November 01, 2007 at 10:52 AM by Jason Barker

Life Together: An Interactive Study of 1 Corinthians is now available! You will find both the multimedia Bible study application (which requires the free Adobe Shockwave player), as well as HTML versions of the articles. You can also download group study guides and quizzes.

The study is currently complete through chapter ten, and will be finished over the next few weeks.

Remember that the current GET WISDOM radio series - with group study guides (actually using the same text as the Life Together study guides) - is also covering 1 Corinthians.

Posted in Bible Studies, Youth Department

NEW BIBLE STUDY BOOKLET

Posted on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 9:45 AM by Jason Barker

You can now download my free, eight page, full-color booklet on Bible study, You Can Read the Bible: An Orthodox Guide to Bible Study.

The booklet gives a brief overview of why you should read the Bible, the role of Orthodox Tradition in Bible study, and three methods for engaging in transforming Bible study.

The first two episodes of GET WISDOM - and their study guides - were based on this booklet.

Download your free copy today!

Posted in Bible Studies, Get Wisdom!, OCN, Online Resources, Youth Department

Register for Personal Emails for "Life Together"

Posted on Tuesday, October 02, 2007 at 4:51 PM by Jason Barker

Life Together: An Interactive Study of 1 Corinthians, which launches November 1st, will be the 2007-2008 online multimedia Bible study of the Department of Youth Ministry - Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (it is also a featured ministry of our partner, the Orthodox Christian Network). The study will be used by Teen SOYO groups throughout the United States and Canada to prepare for the 2008 Bible Bowl; it will also be used by youth groups in other Orthodox jurisdictions.

Life Together will feature the biblical text of 1 Corinthians (from the New King James Version), a modern commentary for each chapter, and a commentary by St. John Chrysostom; articles about persons and places that appear in the text; articles about Orthodox Christianity and applying the biblical text to the reader's life; downloadable study sheets for group study; and quizzes.

I wrote an article earlier featuring screenshots of the Life Together user interface; click here to read that article and get a preview of the "look and feel" of the application.

Like all our Orthodox Christian Bible Studies, Life Together will be completely free to access and use.

Beginning on Life Together's launch on November 1st, I will also send personalized emails to Orthodox teens (one email per week for the sixteen weeks of the study) featuring an overview of the content from that chapter, with an attached group study guide and an encouragement to engage in group study with the teen's local Orthodox youth group. Like the Bible study application itself, this personalized email is also completely free.

11/1/07 Update: Registration for the email program is now closed.

Edited on: Thursday, November 01, 2007 11:25 AM

Posted in Bible Studies, Youth Department

On Staff with the OCN

Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 at 10:10 PM by Jason Barker

I'm privileged to announce that - in addition to my work with the Department of Youth Ministry - I am now on the staff of the Orthodox Christian Network. I will be creating study guides to accompany episodes of Come Receive the Light.

I will continue, of course, to engage in the work in which the Youth Department and OCN are partnering: my online Bible studies and upcoming radio program.

I thank both Fr. Christopher Metropulos and Fr. Joseph Purpura for the opportunity to participate in their ministries.

Posted in Jason Barker, OCN, Youth Department

Orthodox Conference on Missions and Evangelism

Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 at 8:14 AM by Jason Barker

One of the featured speakers at the 2007 Orthodox Conference on Missions and Evangelism - to be held 8/31-9/3 - will be Fr. Kevin Scherer, executive director of Orthodox Youth Outreach.

Posted in Youth Department

Our Partnership with OCN

Posted on Friday, August 03, 2007 at 6:40 PM by Jason Barker

Fr. Christopher Metropulos has announced that the Orthodox Christian Network has formed a partnership with the Department of Youth Ministry "to produce innovative programming for Orthodox youth." Now that this formal announcement has been made, I can tell you about two of the things I will be doing as part of this partnership.

First, the online Orthodox Christian Bible Studies I create will now be published as a partnership between the OCN and the Youth Department. The first study that will be created through this partnership with be "Life Together: An Interactive Study of the First Epistle to the Corinthians." This study will launch in its entirety on November 1st.

Second, I am creating a new radio program that will air on The Ark and The Rudder. This program will be a weekly Bible study with PDF handouts that can be downloaded for personal and group study.

Both the OCN and the Department of Youth Ministry invite you to join with us in this exciting new phase of our ministry to Orthodox youth!

Posted in Orthodox News, Youth Department

Audio Reports Online

Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 at 3:12 PM by Jason Barker

Thanks to Ancient Faith Radio, MP3 recordings of reports by Fr. Joseph Purpura (for the Department of Youth Ministry) and George Sackllah (for Teen SOYO) to the Antiochian Archdiocese Convention are available online.

Posted in Youth Department

New Youth Worker Positions

Posted on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 at 1:29 PM by Jason Barker

A number of youth worker positions are currently open in parishes in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. To learn more, contact:

V. Rev. Dr. Joseph F Purpura

Department of Youth Ministry

PO Box 389 Westwood MA 02090

Office: 1-781-461-1757

Cell: 1-617-803-5567

You can also send email to Fr. Joseph using the contact form on the Department of Youth Ministry's homepage.

Posted in Youth Department